Standard Lemma guide

flirtation

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /fləˈteɪʃn̩/
  • General-American: /flɚˈteɪʃn̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: F L ER0 T EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Playing at courtship; coquetry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An instance of flirting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A period of experimentation with or interest in a particular idea or activity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

playful behavior intended to arouse sexual interest

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: flirt, flirting, coquetry, dalliance, toying

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: play, frolic, romp, gambol, caper

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English flirt Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English flirtation From flirt + -ation.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: սիրախաղ (siraxaġ) — playing at courtship
  • Bulgarian: флирт (flirt) — playing at courtship
  • Catalan: flirteig — playing at courtship
  • Esperanto: amindumo — playing at courtship
  • Esperanto: amindumado — playing at courtship
  • Greek: φλερτ (flert) — playing at courtship
  • Greek: φλερτάρισμα (flertárisma) — playing at courtship
  • Russian: флирт (flirt) — playing at courtship
  • Scottish Gaelic: mànran — playing at courtship
  • Spanish: flirteo — playing at courtship
  • Spanish: flirt — playing at courtship
  • Spanish: coquetería — playing at courtship
  • Spanish: coqueteo — playing at courtship
  • Spanish: dragoneo — playing at courtship